Introduction

Disability is a social construct with approaches to and concepts of disability changing over history, between societies within historical periods and having cultural contexts (Gleeson, 1999). At different times and places, the dominant worldview affects the position of disability within the social context. It is important to understand these conceptual approaches and the implications they have for the treatment of people with disabilities in a tourism context. This chapter reviews the contemporary models and discourses of disability to provide a theoretical base on which to understand tourism from a disability perspective and, hence, the development of accessible tourism. Firstly, it reviews the most influential models of disability and their contribution to conceptualising disability. Secondly, it provides a detailed examination of the medical model of disability through the World Health Organization (WHO) definitions on which national disability statistics are collected. This serves as a precursor to understanding the polemic surrounding the medical model from a disability perspective. Thirdly, the chapter discusses two social approaches to disability and extends this discussion by examining the importance of the organisation of space in a tourism context.

Impairment and Disability: What is the Difference?

Definitions of disability often vary according to the purpose of the data collection or according to different classifications used (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2000; Eurostat, 2002; WHO, 1980, 1997). The most commonly cited definitions are by the WHO (1980) and the United Nations Enable (2009), which draw the distinction between impairment and disability:

• ‘Impairment is any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function.’ (WHO, 1980; United Nations Enable, 2009)

• ‘A disability is any restriction or lack (resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being.’ (WHO, 1980; United Nations Enable, 2009)

According to Oliver (1990) and operationalised by the disability advocacy movement, these definitions of the WHO create an individual or medical approach to ‘disability’ and ‘impairment’.